How to get your 1 year old sleeping amazingly!

26 Comments

    • Alyssa Taft

      We are so glad that you have found the material helpful!

      Reply
  1. Sarah

    My 9-months-old used to wake up 4 to 5 times before midnight.

    I was so sleep deprived I could barely function properly.

    My husband noticed that, and we went to our pediatrician.

    He asked several question, and as it happens, I was doing several things wrong.

    It is my first child, so you know how the internet works these days, everyone can post anything, what to do what not to do, it is very hard to find correct answers.

    So he recommended me to contact a clinical psychologist, a collegue of his who actually made a guide for situations like mine.

    He sent me an email, where to find her guide.

    Of course I gave it a try, and guess what, it actually worked. So simple tips, but when you listen to the right people, who actually know what they are talking about.

    For example, I was rocking my baby to sleep constantly, for a long time, and apparently that is a no no.

    When you fix that and many many other things, everything will be ok. At least it was in my case.

    Cheers

    Reply
    • Alyssa Taft

      Hello Sarah,

      We are so glad you were able to fix your LO’s sleep! We love being a one stop shop for valuable and evidence based sleep tips to support families!

      Sincerely,
      Alyssa, BSMS Client Support Manager

      Reply
  2. Kyleah

    Hi!
    My LO is 13 months and has had a bit of a sleep regression. I was initially just picking her up and putting her in bed with us and she would fall asleep instantly.
    I am now learning that probably wasn’t the best idea.
    She has been waking up around 6:30 every morning. Has her first nap around 9:30/10 – and 2nd nap around 1:30/2. We start her bedtime routine around 6:45, which consists of bath time, reading a book, turning sound machine on and putting her in bed awake around 7:15/7:20.
    She will scream for about 10 minutes which breaks my heart, but eventually settle herself. However she does wake up around 2am every morning and it takes a good 45 minutes to settle her. I go in her room lay her back down and rub her back, but it doesn’t work – all she wants is to be picked up and held.
    Help! What should I do?

    Reply
    • Artemis

      Hi Kyleah,

      I completely understand the struggle.

      It seems your little one relies on you to resettle back to sleep, so what you need to do is teach her to self soothe and she’ll start falling asleep peacefully at bedtime and sleeping through the night.

      The best way to do this is to use our sleep training program here:
      https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/baby-sleep-consultant

      You can get 15% off when you use the coupon code ‘2022’ at checkout! We’ll be happy to see you in the program.
      Artemis, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  3. Megan

    Hi there! My little 13 month old has been fighting her second nap for the last 4 weeks. I know this is the awkward age of whether or not to drop to one nap so I don’t know what to do.

    Normal schedule (pre nap fighting)
    745 wake up (almost always with us waking her)
    1000-1030 nap (usually lasting 1.5-2hrs)
    3:30-4pm second nap (usually lasting 1-1.5 hrs)
    8pm bed

    This has consistently worked for us until recently when she will either just cry when we put her down for her second nap…or more of the time, she will just play the whole time from 330-5pm in her crib. During this time she is not crying or yelling out for us, she is just contently sucking her thumb, rolling around and staring around the room. She puts herself to sleep every night, normally around 8-830pm and sleeps through the night without needing us.

    The last two days we have done one long 2-3 hour nap starting around 1130-2ish and both of the next mornings she’s woken up at 630am instead of her normal 745. Is this just the new norm or is she waking early because she isn’t getting enough sleep during the day? She seems happy during her wake windows and if she starts to get a little fussy in the evenings we will have some quiet time with snuggles and books to help make it to bed time. Since switching we’ve tried putting her down a bit earlier, bed around 730pm. But she will lay awake until 830pm just looking around and playing with her PJs before finally falling asleep.

    Just trying to figure out if we’re doing the right thing by switching her to one long nap, or if we need to fight and keep it two for longer….one last note just to make life more interesting…we are moving from Europe back to America is 2 months so I’m trying to figure out if we should make this transition now or wait for the 8hr time change coming our way soon. 🥴 Thanks in advance for your help!

    Reply
    • Alyssa Taft

      Hello Megan,

      It sounds like your LO may still need the 2 naps, but is going through a bit of a regression which can happen at 12ish months. I would continue to try for the 2 naps and follow your schedule above. If your LO is refusing the second nap, just do quiet time instead and move up bedtime on those days. I just wouldn’t keep her in her crib past 4:15pm, and then I would move her bedtime earlier to compensate for the lack of nap. Most kiddos move to 1 nap around 15 months old, so I would try to hold onto the 2 naps for a while longer. Check out these 2-1 nap transition resources below!!

      https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/transition-to-one-nap-when-how
      https://youtu.be/bcX1EzhTltw

      Best,
      Alyssa, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  4. Jess Jones

    Hello! My baby recently turned 1! We’ve been dealing with night wakings for 6 weeks. Her sleep was never perfect b4 that, but she slept a few hours b4 waking. She started waking at 2am, 4am and 6. I cut her naps back a little and still did a nursing session and she normally would go back to sleep.
    wake 7/730am
    Nap 10/1030-11/1130 1 hr nap at least
    Nap 3/330-4/430 1hr nap
    Bedtime usually 4 hours later.
    She wakes at times at 1230 and is fussy. My husband will go in and sit beside the crib and gently pat for a few mins then stop and she will wiggle around and go back to sleep. She wakes at 430/5am..I nurse her and she sleeps till 7am. Her pediatrician said she needs to gain weight, so I am keeping that session but trying to add calories during the day as much as possible to try and get her sleeping through the night. She woke up at 550am this morning and I nursed her and she went back to sleep no until 8am!
    So …the 1230am waking is what I’m trying to figure out. I’m going to aim to move bedtime to 3.5hrs after last nap instead of 4hrs to see if this helps. And also, what should I do about the 6am waking.

    Reply
    • Alyssa Taft

      Hello Jess,

      My best advice is always to start your day at the same time every day. So right now you have it listed at 7/730. I would do 7am consistently and then your 10am nap is consistent every time. This allows your day to be more predictable. If her sleep times are more predictable then it allows for her body to become more consistent which can prevent night wakings and early wakings. In terms of night wakings, the most important thing for a baby and toddler is to fall asleep independently and resettle independently. This will often solve all of those night wakings. We cover how to do this step by step in our program! Check out the details below! Alyssa, BSMS Support Team
      https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/21-days-to-peace-quiet-program

      Reply
  5. Melissa

    Hey there! I have recently sleep trained my 17 month old and she has gone from waking 3-6 times a night to sleeping through the night but only for 9 hrs!
    She now goes to bed at 8:00 and wakes between 5-5:30 am and takes only a 1.5 hr nap at 11:30. She does self settle, her room is dark, there is white noise and we have a good routine.
    I can tell she is getting overtired between sleeps but I’m not sure how add more sleep when she refuses to resettle!

    Reply
    • Alyssa Taft

      Hello Melissa,

      For a 17 month old, I would aim for 5 hours of awake time before nap and then 5.5/6 hours after nap. We always recommend treating anything before 6am as a night waking, so if she is content, leave her in her crib until 6am. Aim for an 11-1 nap and then a 6:30pm bedtime. Be really consistent for a week to see improvement 🙂

      Alyssa, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  6. Kim

    Hello, my 16 month old is waking between 1 and 3 times per night and now wakes between 5.30 and 6am and will not re settle. He has a strict routine during the day, naps from 9-10am and 13.30-3,30pm, goes to bed easily between 7.15/7.30pm after a bath and breast feed. He is a happy and active baby and falls asleep independently but has started to cry in his sleep and doesn’t stop until he or I wake him up. It’s usually at 10.30pm or 12am, he will usually have a sip of water an go straight back to sleep. Some nights he will also wake between 1&3am and will re settle after a sip of water but only for about 20/30 mins and then cries again, I do the same thing each time, pick him up, offer water, cuddle for no more than 1min and put him back down) the unsettles period can last for two hours on and off and then he will wake early on top. I do the same in the morning to try and re settle him, he used to re settle until 6.30/7am but not he cries and cries He used to self soothe but seems more unsettled recently. I’m not sure what else to try! Any help would be appreciated!! Thank you in advance 🙂

    Reply
  7. Jennifer

    My 13 month old has been waking at 5 am (and sometimes 4:30) since he was 6 months old. I have gotten light blocking curtains, white noise, bedtime routine. I’ve moved his bedtime up, I’ve moved to it later. I’ve limited his daytime naps, I’ve let him nap all he wants. I’ve left him to hang out in his crib until 6.
    Right now, thanks to daylight savings time, he slept until 6 for about 5 days. Goes to bed around 7:30 (usually gets to sleep by 8). Naps are no longer than 1.5 hours because I’ll wake him from them. None of that has changed but he’s back to 5am! Please help. I feel like I’ve done everything and nothing changes.

    Reply
    • Alyssa Taft

      Hello Jennifer,

      Thank you so much for your post! I would make sure to limit any sugars before bed (including fruit). Try just protein and vegetables or starches at dinner time. Make sure your LO’s room is TOTALLY blacked out so no light will wake him up in the morning. Make sure to limit all daytime sleep to a MAX of 3 hours. 🙂

      Best,
      Alyssa, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  8. Care

    My 20 month old is not wanting to go to sleep at night anymore we have a bedtime routine but will not go to sleep sometimes tell 1am I can’t keep this up I’m going crazy

    Reply
    • Micaela

      Hi Care, sorry to read you are struggling. 1am is definitely too late! You want to aim for a consistent bedtime of 6.30 – 8 pm. Your 20mo needs 2-3 hours of napping each day with just one nap that would split the day in half.

      As you might know, the way that your child falls asleep at bedtime is the way he needs to fall back asleep every time he wakes in the night. (We all wake throughout the night, it’s completely normal.) If your LO is nursed, rocked, bounced, or helped to sleep in any way at bedtime, he’s going to need your direct help each time he wakes at night. This could be every 1-2 hours for some toddlers!

      Sleep training will help you teach him how to fall asleep independently at bedtime and this will result in longer stretches and no night waking. You can expect your toddler to sleep 11-12h each night!

      We help clients every day in our sleep training program 21 Days to Peace and Quiet https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/21-days-to-peace-quiet-program/ and we would love to help your family too <3

      Micaela BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  9. CDK

    Hi,

    My 10 months old start sleeping in the bed with my mum when he was 6 months old. I had to take over a new job and I wanted to make sure i get some rest and sleep before I’m going to my job as i was also going through a training period and had lot to catch up within a short period of time. So now we want to get him to sleep in our bed room ( we have a crib and a toddler bed directly fixed into our large double bed. My mum is supposed to return back to my home country by August. But my little one keeps refusing to sleep with us. We any how managed to put him to sleep in our bed, but he wakes up around in the morning and starts crying. He keeps on crying until we return him to mum and only she can put him into sleep after that. I feel devastated when he prefers mum over me and feel frustrated when he keeps refusing me. Please help

    Reply
    • Micaela

      Hi, I can’t even imagine how this makes you feel but please know that it can be solved and you had to do what you to do. I’m sure you aleays had you family’s best interests at heart.

      At the moment you mother is to your LO a “sleep association”. He is used to fall asleep in a big bed with her so when he wakes during the night he searches for what is familiar to him. “Sleep associations” are the props or conditions that we need in order to relax and fall asleep. When your baby can go into his crib awake and settle himself to sleep on his own, he’ll be able to resettle himself each time he stirs at night. (Most babies stir at least 4 times each night.) Once your get your baby falling asleep on his own at bedtime, he’ll naturally extend his nighttime sleep stretches. And he’ll only wake and call out for you when he’s hungry. Check out our 10 months sleeping guide here https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/sleep-training-10-month-old

      If you feel like you need more advice we have a free kit called “Exhausted Mom’s Survival Kit”. You can check it out here https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/exhausted-moms-survival-kit

      I hope this helps.
      Micaela BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  10. Iris

    I NEED HELP
    My 1 year old , wakes up every 2-3 hours at night
    I have to breastfeed every time he wakes up so he can fall back asleep, he takes 2 naps during the day but no more than 1:45minutes.

    Reply
    • Leena

      Hi! Oh no, sorry to hear that! It sounds exhausting! I would recommend starting with our age base sleep guide above which will cover all the basics and help manage expectations at this stage. Implement the guide for 2 weeks straight and you should see improvements.
      It is often useful to teach your LO how to fall asleep independently, this will lead for them STTN and thus improving sleep all around! If you’d like more detailed assistance on how to teach your LO this skill, our program 21 Days to Peace&Quiet walks you through the steps.

      https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/exhausted-moms-survival-kit

      https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/21-days-to-peace-quiet-program

      Good luck! / Leena, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
      • Athira

        My 1 yr old hving more than 10 night wakings.i am really hopeless.nyt ful she need breastfeeding.she takes 2 naps mng and afternoon 3 and half hours.she has consistant bed time.she eats 6 tyms breastfeeding at day time and eat well in day time.i don’t y she wake up at night

        Reply
  11. Yolande Nieuwoudt

    Hi Jilly
    I have a beautiful 1 year old girl, who has from
    Around 9 months become very restless at night. She doesn’t necessarily wake but she fusses and sometimes cry in her sleep. She has two naps total 2-3 hrs, consistent sleep routine bed time 7:30 -8. She self settles. She does use a pacifier. I am at wits end the interrupted sleep is
    Killing me any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

    Reply
    • Leena

      Hi Yolande! Thank you for your comment. It can be quite common for some babies to fuss in between sleep cycles or sometimes even during sleep. I wouldn’t be worried if it’s only fussing and she can fall asleep independently and connect sleep cycles. If the crying gets to be hysterical, then of course it could be good to examine the sleep routines, awake times, nutrition and overall daytime stimulus and sleep environment. Even adults have interrupted sleep, but our transitional habits are more toned done as we become adults. The guide above will help you with general tips for your LO’s age. / Leena, BSMS Support Team

      Reply

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